Homeopathy

Homeopathic remedies energetic preparations that are non-toxic and have no side effects. They are inexpensive and have no expiration date. You can keep these remedies around in a 30C potency as each one has multiple uses.

Arsenicum – Anxious, insecure, restless. World feels out of control, preoccupied with order. Needs control at all times to feel secure. Fear of death, pre-death anxiety in people who are dying. Burning pains, bad cadaverous odors. Useful in many conditions including food poisoning, stomach flu with restlessness and chilliness.

Arnica – Physical or emotional trauma, shock, says “I’m okay.” Fear of touch, sore bruised, and lame. Use routinely after traumatic injury, childbirth, overuse of muscles, concussion. Aches as if beaten, bed feels too hard. Historically, used for typhoid and flu. Used postoperatively and after dental procedures for pain and to promote healing.

Adaptogenic Herbs

Adaptogenic herbs increase the body’s resistance to physical, biological, emotional and environmental stressors. They balance endocrine hormones and the immune system, and help the body to restore balance.

Ashwaghandha – use when “wired and tired”, helps to rejuvenate when tired but also promotes serenity and deep sleep. Reduces elevated stress hormones. A great herb for adrenal fatigue, overwork, lack of sleep, and nervous exhaustion. It helps the whole hormonal system. The powder can be taken in milk.

In addition, Lemon Balm was the favorite herb of medieval alchemist Paracelsus. It revitalizes the body and is of great use in all complaints caused by a disordered nervous system. “Sovereign for the brain, strengthens memory and powerfully chases away melancholy.” Good for colds and flu as well, grows well in Santa Cruz area.

Valerian – helpful in nervous unrest, allays pain and promotes sleep. Good for sensitive people suffering from nervous overstrain, used in second world war during air raids. Quieting and soothing effect on brain and nervous system without the side effects of narcotics

Healing Foods help you stay grounded and balanced:

♦ Emphasize healthy fats and oils such as coconut oil, which enhances the immune system and provides energy without engaging the insulin response. Grass fed butter is also good for you! Fat soluble vitamins also enhance mineral absorption.

♦ Get lots of minerals: By the mechanism of selective uptake, calcium blocks or decreases the absorption of strontium-90, calcium-45 and other radioactive isotopes by the skeletal system. Raw dairy products and seaweeds are good natural choices, and the alginate in seaweed removes radioactivity. Pectin in fruit may do the same.

♦ Consider iodine supplementation – iodine is used by the thyroid, breast, adrenals, and insulin receptors. 95% of Americans may be iodine deficient. The average Japanese person gets 12.5 mg./day, which is what our body needs. Detox symptoms may result with iodine supplementation as toxic elements bromine, chlorine, and fluorine in the body is replaced by iodine. It is best to start slowly (3 mg.)

♦ Fermented foods such as raw sauerkraut, miso, and yoghurt have increased vitamin content and contain enzymes that help with digestion. These foods, especially miso may help to counteract the toxins from radioactive fallout.

♦ Eat a protein/fat combination every two hours if you feel stressed, to protect your adrenal glands and prevent burnout. Nuts, cheese, and eggs are all good choices.

♦ Eat your greens: The US Army found that broccoli, green cabbage and alfalfa reduced the effects of radiation on guinea pigs by 50 percent! Super green foods like chlorella and spirulina can be helpful to increase resistance to and detoxify from radiation

One amazing success was during the flu pandemic of 1917-18. While the mortality rate of people treated by regular doctors was up to 30 percent, those treated by homeopathic physicians had mortality rate of approximately one percent.

Homeopathy is a highly individualized form of healing, and each epidemic has one or two remedies that are specific for that form of flu. Details that aren’t considered by conventional medicine become important in choosing a homeopathic remedy, which means that until a homeopath somewhere in the world is actually able to observe person suffering from this particular version of the flu, we can only guess which remedy might be helpful.

As a preventative, the homeopathic remedy Oscillococcinum is good to take at the beginning stages of any flu and can be purchased at your local health food store.

If you would like to learn more, you can go to my web site and listen to the lecture on flu pandemics. My friend and associate, acupuncturist Martha Benedict, is on the recording as well and gives suggestions based on Traditional Chinese Medicine.

I will be posting some written information on my web site soon, and will let you know of any developments as soon as possible.

Worth Learning About

by Liz Koch

First published in 2005

Plagues and epidemics bring a chilling fear to the imagination. Worse case and what if scenarios can definitely shake up even the most steadfast person. How then do we personally and communally think about and prepare for the unthinkable? Educating ourselves may be one of our most powerful resources. Rather than having a knee jerk reaction, becoming informed helps us recognize our choices and options.

From past experience Homeopathy stands out as a worthwhile possibility even when pondering the horror of epidemics and plagues. Homeopathy proved not only valuable during the smallpox epidemic but was recognized as a potent antidote for malaria. With its official start being the effective treatment and prevention of scarlet fever during the epidemic of 1801, Homeopathy has an impressive 200-year-old track record.

Homeopathy has an impressive 200-year-old history. Currently categorized as alternativemedicine at best and hocus pocus at worst, homeopathy was brought to the United States in 1885 by medical doctors educated in Europe.

By the mid-1800s, a medical organization was established that developed into several medical colleges, among them was the New England Female Medical College, the first medical school in the U.S. to admit women.

By the turn of the century, there were 22 homeopathic medical colleges, and one out of five doctors used homeopathy. The first homeopath in California was Dr. Benjamin Ober who arrived in San Francisco in 1849.

Homeopath Dr. C.W. Breyfogle was San Jose’s mayor in 1886 and homeopathic physician Dr. Albert Abrams was a professor of pathology and the dean of clinical medicine at Stanford University in the 1800s.

But with the thrust of the Industrial Revolution, the move toward the mechanical model of the body and of disease resulted in all but eliminating homeopathy in the United States. [Read more…] about History of homeopathy